


Plants, Sugar, and Everything Nice

by Thesunisinmypocket



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, M/M, a healthy sprinkle of sheith in the background, and they were partners oh my god they were partners
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27404980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thesunisinmypocket/pseuds/Thesunisinmypocket
Summary: When Lance heard his name being called alongside Katie “Pidge” Holt’s for the Biology project, he knew he was in deep trouble. She was brilliant, so that wasn’t a problem. The problem was, Lance (and their whole school, for that matter) was scared shitless of Pidge’s upper classman “boyfriend”, Keith.Pidge did not know Lance McClain very well, but then again, she doesn’t know anyone in school very well. She only ever hangs out with Keith and talks to Hunk sometimes. She knows Hunk’s a really cool guy, and Lance is known to be his best friend. So if Lance and Hunk get along, Pidge guesses she and Lance will get along just fine. She’s just confused as to why he’s so nervous whenever they have to talk.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 8
Kudos: 51





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I'm not a very good writer, so this might not be very good, but I also really wanted more Plance stories. Ergo, this self-indulgent high school AU was born after a brainstorm in the shower. I apologize for the short prologue and the questionable quality of my writing, but if you're reading it anyways, I really do hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> :))

When Lance heard his name being called alongside Katie “Pidge” Holt’s for the Biology project, he knew he was in deep trouble. She was brilliant, so that wasn’t a problem. The problem was, Lance (and their whole school, for that matter) was scared shitless of Pidge’s upper classman “boyfriend”, Keith.

Rumor has it that Keith is trained in the way of the blade and that when he was in middle school, he punched a guy to death. No one knows if that's true, but no one dares to ask, and so his intimidating reputation stayed. Lance has seen Keith and Pidge around a lot of times and they always spend their time together. Even though Pidge was a junior and Keith was a senior, they always walk the hallways together, they eat lunch underneath one of the school's huge sycamore trees every day, and they always drive to school and back home together. No one knows for sure if they're dating, but with Keith involved, no one wants to ask. 

Pidge did not know Lance McClain very well, but then again, she doesn’t know anyone in school very well. She only ever hangs out with Keith and talks to Hunk sometimes. She knows Hunk’s a really cool guy, and Lance is known to be his best friend. So if Lance and Hunk get along, Pidge guesses she and Lance will get along just fine. She’s just confused as to why he’s so nervous whenever they have to talk. 

She knows they have to talk eventually since they're partners and all so after class is dismissed, she goes over to the tall boy. “Hey Lance,” Pidge greets.

“Oh, hi.” Lance smiles.

“So, I was wondering, when do you want to start with the project? If we start early, we'll finish early and can have more time to check for errors." Pidge says, ever the diligent student. 

"Right," he replies.

"You can come to my house if you want.”  
  


 _"Oh shit, her house?"_ Lance thinks, but what he actually says is, “Oh, are you sure that’s okay?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Pidge tilts her head a little.

“I mean, will Keith be okay with it? Not that I’m saying he controls your life or anything, I’m sure you’re a strong, independent person, but you two seem super… close?” Lance rambles, his brain going haywire. “ _Damn it Lance, get it together.”_ He thinks to himself.

Pidge, even more confused asks, “What does Keith have to do with anything?”

“Nevermind what I said. Sorry about that, just forget about it.” Lance says quickly.

“Already forgotten,” she smiles a small smile. “Whatever the hell that was,” she murmurs lowly.

“Uhm would Friday evening be okay with you?”

“Oh sorry, I don’t think I can do Friday. My brother’s visiting for the weekend, so we’re going to have dinner with him and everything.”

“That’s not a problem. How about Saturday morning?”

“Sure. 10 am okay with you?”

“Yeah, 10 is good.” Lance nods. "Cool cool cool cool cool." He adds, speaking quickly, unsure of how to act around the girl with the most intimidating boyfriend in the whole school. 

Pidge gives him _**a look**_ before she says, “Alright, give me your number so I can text you my address.” She offers him her phone as they walk out of the school exit. Lance gently takes it and puts in his number.

“There you go.” He hands her back her phone.

“Right, see you on Saturday.” Pidge waves goodbye and walks over to Keith who was already waiting for her in a sea full of other students exiting the school, ready to go home. When she goes up to him, Lance sees him smile at her as he puts his arm around her shoulder before they walk to his car.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, so I realize the title of this story is not very clear. But I hope this chapter clears it up. Again, I'm not a professional writer, by any means, so forgive me for any mistakes.
> 
> Please enjoy, this is quite a happy one :)

Friday night, Lance gets a text from Pidge and immediately calls Hunk.

“Hunk!” Lance shouts to the phone.

“What is it, man?”

“Am I really going to _**Katie Holt**_ ’s house tomorrow? I don’t want to get murdered, man.” He says panicking.

“Hey, you’ll be fine Lance. I mean, sure, Keith is scary, but Allura says he’s actually pretty nice if you get to know him. You will be okay.”

“But Allura’s different though. Everyone likes her. I’m sure even someone like Keith would not be super cold towards her.”

“I guess that’s true, but at the same time, you really don’t have anything to worry about. You don’t mean Pidge or Keith any harm. You’re certainly not chasing after her, so Keith has no reason whatsoever to do anything to you. You’ll be fine.”

“Promise?”

“Yes Lance, I promise.” Hunk chuckles, amused by how scared his usually confident friend is.

“Alright, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m just being irrational.”

“Don’t worry, and just have fun. You’re actually so lucky. Pidge’s a really nice girl and she’s a genius. I’m sure you’ll finish your project quickly.”

“I hope so. Oh! And Hunk, one last thing. How do you not be a deadweight in a group when your partner’s a legit genius? I don’t want her to think I’m lazy when I’m just not as smart as her.”

* * *

On Saturday morning, Lance pulls up and parks his (sister’s) car across Pidge’s house. He sees her garage door wide open and his heart jumps when Keith appears with two other guys to check on a red motorcycle. One of the guys beside Keith looks a lot like Pidge if she was taller, more muscular, and had a ponytail. Lance figures that the guy must be Pidge’s brother. The other guy is even more muscular, with short hair, a nose scar, and thighs for days. The trio looked like they came out of the cover of a biker magazine. They’re handsome, but to Lance they just look scary and undoubtedly able to crush him if he ever made Pidge even slightly annoyed or mad.

Lance takes a deep breath and wishes he was dead already because if these were the guys Pidge has hanging around her house, he might as well be. But then, he stops and remembers what Hunk said the night before. He hears Hunk’s voice in the back of his head, reminding him that he has nothing to be afraid of. He doesn’t want to cause Pidge any harm, hell, he doesn’t even want to get too close with someone who has a significant other. He’s just here for a project, he doesn’t have anything to be scared of. With that in mind, he goes out of his car and walks to the house.

Keith is the first person to notice him and lets the others know that they have a guest. The other two guys look up from the motorcycle they were repairing and walk up to him.

“Hey, you must be Pidge’s friend.” Keith says, cool. “She said someone’s coming today.”

“Yeah, I’m her partner for a project. I’m Lance.” Lance says with a small smile, offering his hand.

“Keith.” The older guy says, straightforward as ever, before taking Lance’s hand to shake it.

“Hi, I’m Matt,” the Pidge look alike says with a friendly smile, completely the opposite of Keith’s poker face. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Shiro, nice to meet you.” The tallest of the bunch says. Lance shakes his hand too.

“Come on in! Sorry you have to go in through the garage, but it’s already open.” Matt says, leading him into the house.

“No problem.” Lance replies with a genuine smile.

“I’ll go and get Katie.” Matt smiles before heading to the stairs.

“Thank you,” Lance says, looking around the house. It is a pretty living room, with many pictures of the Holt family. He smiles looking at a picture of a younger Matt with a baby Pidge. Turns out, she was a chubby baby. _“Cute,”_ he thinks to himself before he is brought back to Earth by Shiro.

“So Lance, what’s your project about?”

“Oh, it’s more of a competency thing, really. We were recently taught how to create plant extracts, so we’re supposed to pick a certain plant and extract it to check if it has any benefits.” Lance says, nodding.

“That sounds fun.” Shiro smiles just as Keith enters with three glasses of water for each of them. “Hey babe, didn’t you have to do that too last year?”

“Yeah,” Keith says after drinking the water. “It seems the syllabus didn’t change much this year.” Keith smiles at Shiro, surprising Lance. Keith never smiles, he only does it when he’s with Pidge, but his smile for Shiro was even softer than the smiles he gives to Pidge. Also, **BABE?!** What the hell is going on with that?

“Hey, I know I shouldn’t give any tips or anything, but I heard _Moringa_ leaves have many health benefits.” Keith says. “Don’t worry, I didn’t use them last year.”

“Way ahead of you, Keith.” Lance hears Pidge say. She's just on the last step of the stairs when Lance sees her. She has her hair in pigtails, it was quite adorable. “ _Moringa oleifera_ , to be exact. I researched it last night. Seems simple enough, I’m sure we can do it.” Pidge continues saying.

“Of course you can do it. You’re the smartest person we know.” Shiro says, casually putting his arm around Keith’s waist, as if it was a habitual thing. Lance's eyes grew wide, but he stayed silent because Pidge didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Alright then, we’ll leave you to it.” Matt says, patting Pidge’s shoulder. Matt, Keith, and Shiro make their way back to the garage but not before Matt says with a wink, “Have fun! But not too much fun!”

“I hope you step on a lego, Matt.” Pidge replies as she leads Lance to the Holt’s study room (because of course, the genius family has an impressive room just to study in).

“Woah.” Lance says quietly.

“Sorry?” Pidge asks. “I didn’t hear what you said.”

“Oh it’s nothing. I just think the room’s pretty cool.” He says, making Pidge smile as she turns on one of the computers. She seems glad, proud. 

“Thanks. All four of us like to read and since mom and dad are both scientists, they need the large space for work.”

“Oh that’s nice.” Lance smiles before he notices a sleeping dog in the corner of the room. “Oh my god! You have a dog?!” he smiles even louder.

“Yeah! That’s Bae-Bae. He takes long naps, but I’m sure he’ll play with you when he wakes up.” Pidge smiles, pulling a seat for Lance. “Oh, by the way, did you bring a car?”

“Thanks,” Lance says for the seat. “And yeah, I drove here. Why?”

“We might have to drive to mom’s greenhouse to get the _Moringa_ leaves. I think we’ll finish the paper early. It’s really not that hard after I thought about it more.”

“ _Not that hard? Of course it wasn’t.”_ Lance thought. _“Pidge probably already learned how to do this when she was a toddler.”_

“Okay, no problem. I can drive us there.” He smiles.

“Good, cause I honestly don’t really want to ask Matt, Shiro, or Keith to drive us there.”

“Oh you don’t drive?” Lance asks, curious.

“No, not yet. Soon though. Keith promised he’d teach me before he leaves for college.” Pidge says, absentmindedly. She is focused on pulling up the articles for the basis of their methodology.

“Okay, don’t worry, I gotcha.” Lance says before pausing for a moment. “So uh, you seem to have this figured out, but I do have to remind you that I have no clue what you’re talking about.” He says. “So can you tell me more about the leaves you had in mind?”

“Oh right, sorry about that. I tend to let my brain get ahead of me.” Pidge says, a blush rising to her cheeks. She seems to be embarrassed, but Lance understands. Pidge most likely grew up with family members that are just as smart. They’d understand how her mind works without her having to elaborate it too much. Lance is intelligent, but he’s not a Holt.

“Hey, don’t apologize for anything. I think I’m the one who should say something,” he chuckles softly. “I just don’t want you to feel like I’m a dead weight. So I’ll try to be as skillful as I can even if Science is not my forte.”

“You’re not a dead weight, Lance.” Pidge says, offering a smile she hopes is comforting.

“Thanks.” Lance says and he starts thinking how easy it is to actually talk to someone when you’re not scared shitless of their significant other. Hunk was right, he was going to be okay. Maybe he’d even find a few new friends in Pidge and her band of tall, muscular guys. 

“Right, so the leaves.” Pidge starts. “They’re suspected to contain flavonoids that can help decrease your blood sugar levels. So, if we can extract the leaves and figure out how to test them, we might be able to prove whether that hypothesis is true.”

Lance nods. That’s simple enough. His brain is still trying to process the words, but he thinks he gets it. 

“The problem is, I’m not sure how we can test it. I was thinking maybe we can test it on diabetic mice, either make syringe shots or incorporate the extract in their food. But then we’d have to make the mice diabetic first and not only is it time-consuming, it’s cruel.” Pidge says really quickly. “The other option is doing a Benedict’s test in test tubes, but I’m not sure if that’s really accurate. That's the conundrum.” She continues, and Lance nods, but he’s a bit lost now.

“Right okay. Uhm, maybe we can ask for feedback? You said your parents are scientists, right? Maybe they’d have advice.” Lance suggests, suddenly thinking where her parents were. He hadn’t seen them in the house.

“You’re right. Mom might know. But they’re grocery shopping at the moment, so we’ll have to wait till they get back.”

“That’s not a problem, let’s just start with other things first.” He smiles at her and turns his head to look into her computer.

* * *

When Sam and Colleen Holt comes home, Lance and Pidge are almost done with the first couple parts of their report. Pidge works **_fast_ ** and Lance is surprised he hasn’t had that much trouble keeping up so far. What is left is the exact testing procedure and their results. 

Lance and Pidge, along with a well-rested Bae-Bae, go to greet the older Holts. Matt, Shiro, and Keith had already beat them to it. Keith and Shiro are helping Sam bring in the groceries even though he insisted they shouldn’t since they were guests while Matt is helping Colleen put the stuff in their cabinets. 

“Hi mom, dad.” Pidge says. “Do you guys need more help?”

“No that’s okay, Katie. Is this your project partner?” Colleen asks, smiling at Lance.

“Yes, hello. I’m Lance.” Lance smiles wide, shaking both Colleen and Sam’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lance.” Sam says with a smile.

“Likewise,” Lance replies.

“We actually have a question for you.” Pidge says to Colleen. 

“Okay, we can talk about it while your dad and I make lunch,” Colleen smiles before looking at Shiro and Keith, who brought in the last of the groceries. “Keith, Shiro, are you staying for lunch? We’d love to have you.”

“Sorry Colleen, but we were just planning to go.” Shiro says with a sweet smile.

“Thank you so much Colleen, but my mom made me and Shiro promise to have lunch with her and dad.” Keith adds, his tone respectful and friendly. Not at all scary like he is at school. 

“Oh that’s not a problem! Have a good day you two! And Keith, tell your parents I said hello.”

“Will do, Colleen!” Keith smiles.

Before the duo went, Sam stops them by saying, “Oh before you go, let me see the motorcycle you three have been working on!” The older Holt smiles as he follows his son to the garage. 

Keith and Shiro say their goodbyes to Colleen, Lance, and both kiss Pidge on the head before they follow Matt and Sam. As they walk to the garage, Lance doesn’t miss how Shiro puts his arm around Keith’s shoulder while Keith puts his around Shiro’s waist. Pidge doesn’t seem even slightly affected by it and again, Lance's eyes grow wide as he thinks, " _ **W**_ ** _hat the hell?_** _Keith's been more touchy with Shiro than he is with his own girlfriend."_

“What about you, Lance? Are you staying for lunch?” Colleen asks.

“Oh uhm,” Lance starts, but he is abruptly interrupted by Pidge.

“Of course he is, we haven’t finished the methodology yet.”

“Katie, please don’t be rude. Lance can speak for himself.”

“Right… Sorry Lance, sorry mom.” Pidge says, shy.

“Don’t worry,” Lance smiles at her. “I’d love to join you for lunch, if you don’t mind.” 

“Not at all!” Colleen chirps happily. “Now tell me, what are you confused about with your project?”

* * *

Sitting in the dining room with the Holts, Lance couldn’t feel more like an outsider, but the Holts are so kind and open, it does ease him a little.

“So Lance, have you thought about what you want to do after high school?” Matt asks, enthusiastic. 

“Oh, I was thinking of taking Aviation at Garrison. I’ve always wanted to be a pilot.” Lance says, proud. “If that doesn’t work, my plan B is majoring in Agriculture, also at Garrison” 

“Oh that’s amazing! Piloting must be fun.” Matt says. “Mom and dad teach at Garrison U.”

“That’s great, Lance!” Sam smiles. “Aviation at Garrison is the best in the state. I’m not in that department, but some of my friends are.”

“It is! That’s an excellent choice. I know some of the instructors are tough, but from what I heard, they do teach you how to fly well.” Colleen adds.

In all this, Pidge doesn’t say a word, but Lance still notices how her eyes never stray off him.

“What about you, Pidge?” Lance asks. 

“Oh, I uh, I was thinking of going to Altea with Matt and Shiro. Robotics Engineering.” She shrugs.

“Proud of you, Katie.” Sam says. “We need more women in STEM.” He continues and Colleen nods. Pidge smiles at that. 

“Altea’s great. One of Keith’s classmates is the Dean’s daughter. Do you know her?” Matt asks.

“Allura, right?” Lance asks. 

“Yeah! I think that's her name.”

“Yeah, she’s really nice.” Lance smiles. 

“It’s a shame the whole gang’s going to be there except Keith.” Matt says and both his and Pidge’s faces drop. 

“Hey,” Colleen says. “At least Marmora is not too far from Altea. You can all still get a place together, with Shiro too.” She adds, trying to cheer up the table.

“That’d be fun! Besides, Keith’s your friend. You need to support him if he wants to go to his parents’ alma mater.” Sam adds.

Lance takes this in and he blinks in confusion. _“Why is Mr. Holt calling Keith their_ **_friend?_ ** _Isn’t he her boyfriend. Also, how are they so chill when suggesting such a thing? This is all so confusing._ ” Once again, Lance's brain can't seem to process what the hell is going on. 

* * *

A couple hours after lunch, Pidge and Lance has finished their game plan for the project. They know what to do now and are thinking of gathering the _Moringa_ leaves that same day. 

“See?” Pidge smirks, logging off the computer. “I told you we might have to go to the greenhouse today.”

“I didn’t doubt it.” Lance smiles, scratching the back of his head. He’s never been so on top of a project before. “You work fast.”

“No, **_we_ **work fast.” Pidge says, going out of the study room. “Mom?” She calls out.

“Yeah? What is it Katie?” Colleen says from the living room. She was reading a book with Sam while Matt plays with Bae-Bae on the other side of the sofa.

“Can Lance and I go to the greenhouse? You have _Moringa oleifera_ trees don’t you?”

“Yeah, sure you can. I’m not completely sure but I think we do. There might be some PhD students there, so you can ask them too.”

“Alright. Thanks mom.” Pidge says, grabbing her jacket. 

“Right, bring the keys and my ID so you can enter the lab if you need to. But don’t lose it.”

“I won’t. Bye everyone. We’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Pidge says.

“Bye Mr and Mrs. Holt. Bye Matt. Thanks for lunch and everything.” Lance says with a bright smile.

“No problem!” Sam says. “You’re welcome into our home any time.”

“You’re welcome Lance. Drive safe.” Colleen adds and the two high schoolers went on their merry way.

“I was thinking of heading out too. To Keith’s. I’ll change and then maybe ask Shiro and Keith if they want to go somewhere.” Matt stands up from the sofa. “Is that okay?” Lance hears the older Holt sibling say from a distance. 

As Pidge and Lance walk to the car, Lance glances to the house next door and could see Keith and Shiro chatting, sitting on the front porch. Their conversation was so animated, that they didn't even notice Lance and Pidge. Pidge doesn’t seem to care that her boyfriend was preoccupied with someone else, so Lance let it go. 

They enter Lance’s car and Pidge tells him the greenhouse’s address. Just before Lance drives away, they both see Shiro and Keith laughing and then slowly, Shiro holds Keith’s face to kiss him. The overwhelming shock that takes over Lance is ineffable. His eyes widen and feel like they’re going to pop out. His jaw drops, his brain haywires, because **_what???_ **

“Wait!” Lance exclaims, his feet already automatically stepping on the gas, driving away from the scene. “Why is Shiro kissing Keith?!”

Pidge gives him a confused look. “Uh, why wouldn’t he kiss Keith?” She answers. 

“Well, aren’t **_you_** dating Keith?”

“WHAT?” Pidge shrieks, her eyes wide. “No! Why would you think that?”

“How could I **_not_ ** think that? You two are always together! Keith doesn’t smile at anyone except you.”   
  


“He certainly smiles at Shiro!”

“I can see that now!” 

Pidge sighs. “Keith’s my best friend. We all live next to each other with my house in between Shiro’s and Keith’s. We grew up together so we’re all really close. Keith’s always with me because he’s just protective, especially since Matt and Shiro went to college.”

“Oh okay... “ Lance glances at Pidge. “That makes sense.”

“When Shiro’s in town, Keith’s protectiveness kinda shifts away from me.” Pidge explains with a small smile. 

“You don’t mind that he’s so protective of you and then shifts to Shiro when Shiro’s in town?” Lance asks, curious. 

“No, why would I? I really appreciate Keith caring for me, but it’s okay and nice too if he doesn’t give all his attention to me. And of course he should be more protective of Shiro than he is of me. Shiro’s his boyfriend. Shiro needs him just as much as he needs Shiro.”

“I see.”

“It’s just really weird that someone thinks Keith and I are dating.” 

Lance scoffs and chuckles. “Pidge, I hate to break it to you but everyone at school thinks that.”

“Interesting… It's just weird because I could never see Keith with anyone else. He and Shiro are practically married, they’ve been dating since forever.”

Lance chuckles again. “I’m really kicking myself right now.”

“Why?” Pidge asks, her eyes not leaving Lance’s face. That seems to be reoccurring today. 

“Well, I've been really afraid of you because I thought that if I pissed you off or annoyed you or anything, your “boyfriend” might kill me.” He grins as he glances at her before going back to look at the road. "Then today, I see Keith all touchy and nice with Shiro, and turns out he hasn't been dating you. it feels like a glass wall has been broken."

“But Keith won’t really hurt anybody. Not because of that at least.”

“Again, that’s not what anyone at school thinks.”

“Well, they’re wrong. If Keith was going to kick someone’s ass for annoying me, he’d be kicking half the school already.” Pidge laughs. 

There was a brief silence between them before Lance realized how quiet it was. “You can turn on some music if you want.” Lance offers, looking forward. “There’s a couple of CDs there inside the glove compartment. Sorry, no bluetooth. It’s an old car.”

“Don’t apologize.” Pidge says, looking at the CDs. “The Beatles, Bon Jovi, Weird Al?” ***** Pidge turns her head to look at Lance, questioning.

“Ah, that’s my brother’s. He must’ve left it here a long time ago. He found Weird Al comforting for some reason.” 

Pidge scoffs. “I’ll just turn on songs from my phone if that’s okay.”

“Go ahead. Put on what you like.” Lance says and Pidge turns on a familiar tune that makes Lance smile. 

Lance nods as the music plays along. When he glances to Pidge’s side, he sees that she’s nodding too, completely enjoying the music. “Can we loop that?” Lance asks as the song fades out. 

“Sure.” Pidge smiles, looking at him. 

The song plays over and over again. By what seems like the hundredth time, Lance and Pidge really let loose and sing along. 

_“Sweet Caroline,”_ the song starts. 

“BA BA BA GOOD TIMES NEVER SEEM SO GOOD!” Both Lance and Pidge scream out. They were laughing and singing the rest of the car ride. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The Sweet Caroline scene is inspired by Amy and Howard from The Big Bang Theory. :D
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please comment, tell me what you think. I'd really like to hear from all of you. Let's water our plance and if you like sheith too, let's sprinkle sheith in the air! :))


	3. Chapter 3

Once they get to the greenhouse Lance turns off his engine and grins. “Oh man!” He says. “We must’ve repeated the song a hundred times!” 

Pidge laughs and shakes her head before they walk inside the huge greenhouse. “You’re so dramatic. Repeating the song a hundred times would mean we’ve been driving for 5 hours. It’s only been half an hour.”

“Just living in hyperbole.” Lance smiles. “You should try it sometime.” 

“No thanks.” She says as she looks around. Her mom was right, there are a few PhD students in the greenhouse. They go up to the only student that doesn't seem too scary and ask if they knew where the _Moringa_ tree might be. The PhD student points to the left wing of the greenhouse. 

The duo keep walking through the left wing until they meet the trees they have been looking for. The _Moringa_ trees were tall. They were not the tallest or the grandest of the trees, but they were majestic in their own way. Lance and Pidge can't help but admire it quite a bit.

“Alright,” Pidge starts. “You have to climb the ladder to pick the leaves.” She says while she looks around for a ladder. 

“WHAT?! Why me?” Lance squawks.

“Because you have longer legs!”

“But they’re tired!” He whines and pouts, but she just gives him a _look._

“Fine, I’ll climb. It’ll take longer though.” Pidge says. 

“Wait no! I’m sorry, I’ll do it.” Lance says, feeling bad. He should’ve just climbed the first time she suggested it. Pidge is really really small, it’ll be tougher for her to reach the branches.

“Thought your legs were tired.” Pidge teases. 

“No, I was just lazy. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Let’s just grab that ladder over there.” Pidge says before they move the ladder from a couple of trees away to the group of _Moringa_ trees.

Lance climbs the ladder and picks out some of the branches, cutting them and passing them to Pidge. Pidge pulls open the plastic bag she brought and put them in. 

“How much do we need?” Lance asks, still cutting the smaller branches.

“A lot.”

“That’s not really helpful.” Lance laughs. “You know, it’s actually quite nice up here with the branches and the leaves.”

“Just be careful up there.” Pidge smiles before she realizes that he couldn’t even see her. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” He says. “I used to climb trees all the time when I was a kid. One time my sister accidentally nudged me and I fell so far down, it was crazy! Thought it was the end of me.” He says, steadying himself to cut the more farther branches. 

Pidge chuckles. “So dramatic!” 

“Hey!” He looks down to where she’s standing. “Have you ever fallen off a tree? Bet you’d feel like it’s the end too if it were you.” 

Pidge laughs again. “Did anything happen to you after the fall?”

“Broke my left arm. Everyone wanted to be my friend so they could sign my cast. Not the best motive to start a friendship, is it? Kids can really be shitty.” He says.

“Yeah. You’re not wrong there. So I know how you feel.” She says, remembering her own experiences with shitty classmates. 

“But we’re here now. So, it’s good right?” Lance looks down and smiles widely at her. 

Pidge nods before she says, “You are... different.” 

“What do you mean?”

“You’re different from when you first came over to my house. You’re louder now, you seem more comfortable talking to me.”

“Huh, I guess you’re right. It must be because of the Keith and you dating thing. I’m not scared anymore after knowing the truth.” He passes another bundle of leaves. 

“Oh, good.” 

“I hope I’m not annoying you now. I still don't wanna be on your bad side.”

“No, you’re good. Besides, even if you are, I wouldn’t tell Keith. Knowing how scared you are of him, I think I’ll have mercy on you.” 

“Wow Pidge, so generous.” Lance says sarcastically, putting his hand on his heart. They laugh at his antiques. 

“Is this how you usually are?” Pidge asks.

“I think so. I’m not really sure. We gotta ask my friends to know for sure.” Lance chuckles, choosing to continue cutting some of the bigger branches. He passes a couple more bundles down before he says, “So, tell me something.”

“Tell you what?” Pidge says, putting the leaves in the bag.

“You, Matt, Keith, and Shiro. How did that happen?” He asks and she stops stuffing the bag to look at him. Her eyebrows were raised. “Sorry, just curious.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s nice. I mean, no one ever asks. They just **_assume_ **.”

Lance pauses and squirms. “Sorry again about that. It’s just what the whole school is saying. I’m sorry.” He says softly. 

“It’s alright, I’m just teasing.” She smiles at him. “Well, I don’t really know how Matt and Shiro happened. I only hear stories. They were already two peas in a pod when I was born. But I guess, a friendship like Matt and Shiro’s is just what happens when you share the same bathtub as a baby.” She chuckles and notices that Lance was smiling at her. 

_It’s a sweet story_ , he thinks. 

“My parents keep saying how Shiro was also jumping on walls when I was born. He was really excited to have a “baby sister”.” She says, making quotation marks with her fingers. “He really does think of me as family. And Matt was the one who wished for a baby sister actually. He wished for a sister every birthday, Christmas, new year, you name it. It’s nice, they’re good brothers.” She says with a fond smile.

Lance has completely paused by now. He was just listening to her. “That’s really sweet, Pidge.”

“Thank you.” She says. “Uhm and then I guess, Keith’s family moved into the neighborhood. To the house next to mine. His mom got a promotion, so they moved here. And when we first met, he was scary and quiet, so Matt and I kinda just wanted to leave him alone. Didn’t want to bother him, you know?”

“I definitely know.” Lance nods. 

“But Shiro,” Pidge smiles. “He just wouldn’t leave Keith alone. He went up to Keith, flashed his dorky smile, and he really took Keith under his wing.”

“That’s really nice of Shiro.”

“He is really nice. He’s like our glue. If he hadn’t suck it up and saw how sweet Keith really is, we wouldn’t be this close.”

“And then what?”

“Well, you should’ve seen Keith. It was as if he couldn’t believe it. Keith moved around a lot before his mom found a steady job. So, he couldn’t believe that someone was going to be his friend. He looked at Shiro like Shiro was an angel who hung the stars. I think I saw Keith fall in love in real time.” She says. “After that, Keith kinda dropped his walls, and we all just hung out together. Rode bikes, eat dinners, sleepovers, exchange juice boxes.”

“That’s a really special friendship you got there, Pidge.” Lance smiles. 

“I know... I’m lucky.”

“The only friend that ever really stuck with me is Hunk. I only met him in freshman year though. So it hasn’t been that long. He can still run, but I hope not.”

“He won’t.” Pidge says. “And if he does, which I’m sure he won’t, there’s always time to make new friends. Long-lasting ones.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I mean, I was afraid of being friends with you earlier today, but now… We’re friends right?” Lance asks, his eyes soft like a puppy’s, but bright even in the relatively gloomy, evening sky.

Pidge nods. “Yeah, we’re friends.” She says with a shy smile. 

* * *

“So, I’ll keep the leaves?” Pidge asks, when Lance drops her off in front of her house. 

“Sure, is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind. I’ll actually try to dry them tomorrow. So we can get started when we go to school.”

“Sounds good.” Lance smiles. “Just uh, take it easy okay? You don’t have to do everything by yourself. Just let me know if you need anything or even if you don’t.”

“Thank you Lance, I appreciate it. And don’t worry, it’s just drying them in an oven. Mom has her own oven specifically for plants at home anyways. I promise I won’t hog the project.”

Lance chuckles. “Alright, see you around Pidge. Thanks for having me today.”

“See you! Drive safe.” She waves before heading to her front door. He didn’t leave until she's inside. 

Pidge immediately puts the leaves away for safekeeping and after she cleans herself, she hangs out with Matt in her room. They have chocolate milk and a plate of Sam’s special peanut butter cookies next to them. 

“So, how was the greenhouse trip?” Matt asks, sipping his chocolate milk.

“It was fine. We got the leaves, I’ll dry them tomorrow.” 

“Nice,” Matt smiles. 

“When are you heading back?” Pidge asks, her eyes moving away from the movie they were watching. 

“Monday, really early in the morning. I have class that evening and Shiro has one on Tuesday… Sorry Pigeon, I know you want us to stay longer.”

“I really do. Definitely longer than a weekend. I miss you guys. Mom and dad miss you too. And Keith won’t say it to your face, but I know he does.”

“Oh, he said it.” Matt chuckles. 

“Really?”

“Yeah, he did earlier when we were hanging out.”

“What did you guys end up doing anyways?”

“Just went over to Keith’s. Drove around and talked before we had dinner together at that old burger place Shiro really likes. It was fun when they weren’t all being lovey-dovey.”

“You know you love them.”

“Yeah, you’re right... I do love them, but not when they’re making out though.”

“I get what you mean… They definitely leave a lasting impression.” Pidge shivers. She loves Keith and Shiro, but those two really need to tone down the PDA sometimes. 

“Anyways… That Lance kid was nice.”

“I guess so.” Pidge shrugged. 

“You kept looking at him during lunch. Did you realize?”

“Oh, I didn’t realize. But, he was talking. Isn’t that what you do? You look at the person talking.”

“I know, it was just a tad different, that’s all. It was as if you were **_really_ ** looking at him. Observing, making judgements.”

“I always do that. It’s not unusual.”

“I’m just surprised he passed your standard I guess. Usually, and please don’t be mad, you’re not that nice when making judgements.”

“Well, like you said, he’s nice. He’s… good. I think he’s one of the very few people in my grade who actually works with me. Other people just let me or ask me to do all the work.”

“Good, that means he’s decent. I like it when you make friends.”

“I have friends.”

“Keith and Shiro are different.”

Pidge squints her eyes a bit. “Fine,” she says and they go back to eating their cookies and drinking their milk. “Did you know that everyone in school thinks Keith and I are dating?”

Matt chokes on his milk. “What?!” He says, his eyes wide. “But Keith’s Shirosexual.”

“I know right?! I explained that to Lance. You should’ve seen him. I think I saw his brain gears go haywire in real time.”

Matt laughs. “Oh man.”

“Lance was so scared to talk to me before because he thought Keith would kick his ass if he even got near me. But after Lance saw Shiro and Keith kiss, he changed. In the car and in the greenhouse. He was more comfortable, more confident. Even loud and boisterous. A complete 180.”

“No, I could see that. When he was talking about future plans, he seemed really excited about flight school and agriculture too, even though that was the backup. He’s got spark.”

“I guess so.” Pidge smiles a small smile. “Is Keith really scary though? He really thought Keith might murder him or something.”

“I can’t say. We’ve been around Keith for so long that he just seems like a lovesick, angry kitten to me.”

“Me too. I guess it must be different for other people. Lance, included.” Pidge says before she sees a notification on her phone screen. “Oh speak of the devil!”

“What is it?”

“A text from Lance.”

* * *

When Lance got home, he was greeted by his parents who were lounging in the living room. He smiled warmly at them. 

“How was it? How was your day, Lance?” His dad asked. 

“It was good, actually! I had lunch with her family. The Holts are all very nice.” He says, sitting down on the couch with them. 

“Oh! Please let them know we say thank you.” His mom says. “Have you eaten dinner yet? There’s some noodles in the kitchen if you want.”

“I am quite hungry again. I’ll go get it. Do you need anything from the kitchen?” He asks his parents.

“We’re good, Lance.” His dad smiles. 

Lance reheats the noodles in the kitchen and texts Pidge. 

> **Lance McClain 19:43**
> 
> Hey Pidge, thanks again for today. For the lunch, as well
> 
> My parents say thank you
> 
> Can you please tell your parents they said that?

She replies not long after. 

> **Katie Holt 19:46**
> 
> No worries and you’re welcome
> 
> Told my parents, they said they liked having you
> 
> 👍

He smiles at the text, but the screen starts changing to an incoming call from Hunk. He picks it up, only to be greeted by Hunk screaming, “DUDE TELL ME YOU’RE OKAY! ARE YOU ALIVE?”

“I’m alive. I’m fine.” Lance laughs. 

“Phew, thank goodness. How was it?”

“It was… It was good actually.” Lance nods to himself. 

“Oh man, I’m glad! Pidge’s cool right?”

“Yeah, she’s really nice.”

“See? I told you. So, what happened? Was Keith there?”

“Yeah, he was there for a little bit. But turns out… He’s pretty chill.”

“Really?” Hunk sounds fascinated.

“Yeah. Pidge’s brother and their friend, Shiro, were also there. Oh man, they’re all buff and shit, I thought they might kill me. But thank goodness they’re actually nice.”

Hunk laughs and they kept calling as Lance ate his noodles. 

* * *

Come Monday morning, Lance is greeted by Pidge with plastic bags of their dried leaves in front of his locker. 

“Hey.” She says. 

“Oh hey, Pidge. Do you need help with any of that?” He smiles.

“Yeah actually, can I keep some of it in your locker? There’s too many for my locker alone. They're all dried and ready to be processed by the way.”

“Oh thanks! And of course, we can keep some in my locker! Here.” He says, taking the plastic bags and arranging it next to his books. “I’ll bring it to class later?”

“Yup, thanks Lance. See you later.” She says and turns around. But before she gets too far, Lance remembers the container full of _arroz con pollo_ his mom had made for the Holts.

“Wait! Pidge!” He says, calling after her. Pidge turns around and walks back. Lance pulls out the still warm food container and gives it to her. “My mom made _arroz con pollo._ It’s my grandma’s recipe. As a thank you to you and your family for having me.”

Pidge’s jaw drops slightly. She takes in a deep breath and smiles softly. “Thank you, Lance. You really didn’t have to.”

Lance chuckles, “My parents and I insist. I hope you like them.”

“I’m sure we will. Thank you…” She says, her eyes large and shining. 

“You’re welcome.” He says with a warm smile of his own just before the bell starts ringing. “Shit, we better go.” 

“Right, see you!” She says, running away with a smile, her hands still clutching the big container tightly. 

They didn’t see each other until their shared chemistry class later on. Their teacher gave them time at the lab to continue working on their project. Some students, including Hunk, continued working on their methodology, while some are only just brainstorming.

Since Lance and Pidge finished their methodology, they walk to the back of the lab to start extracting the leaves. She takes something out of her backpack and slips it to Lance. 

It’s a small zipper plastic bag filled with two peanut butter cookies. Lance’s eyes go from the cookies to Pidge, who’s so nonchalant about it. 

“Pidge?” He asks, holding out the cookies. 

“They’re for you. They’re my favorite peanut butter cookies. Thought you might like some.” She says, putting the dried leaves on a tray. "Oh shit, you're not allergic to peanuts are you?"

"No, no, I'm good." Lance smiles. _She really is quite a sweet person,_ he thought. 

“Okay, good... Don’t eat it in the lab though.”

“Yeah, I know. Thank you Pidge.” He says softly, before putting the cookies in his bag. He looks at the leaves and sighs. “I haven’t been this far ahead on a project before.” 

Pidge chuckles. “You seem overwhelmed.”

“A little bit, yeah.”

“We just gotta be consistent and we’ll finish in no time. Get this over with,” she says. Lance doesn’t think she realizes how blunt she’s being at the moment. It sounds like she wants to be rid of him as fast as possible. But Lance tries not to take it to heart even though it does sting a little. After all, she just gave him peanut butter cookies. They must be friends, right?

“I’ll go get the blender.” Lance says and goes to the cabinets to get the things they need. 

They work on it, blending the dried leaves to soft powder and sifting them to make sure there are no big lumps. They were having fun, talking about things while they did the process until the person sitting in front of them turns back and snarks at them. 

“Hey can you quiet down? Some of us aren’t _geniuses_ and need to actually _work hard_ to do this.” The guy says with a mocking tone and a rude glare. 

Pidge sighs. She knows it was aimed at her. Science comes easily to her and some people don’t like it. She stays quiet but Lance can see that the comment kind of bugged her. 

“Don’t listen to him.” Lance whispers. 

“Yeah…” 

“I really wish he’s as scared of Keith as I was. Maybe then he’d be too intimidated to say such ridiculous, stupid things to you.”

Pidge smiles at that, “Me too.” She says, looking up at his taller figure with a small smile. 

They continue working.

* * *

“Katie, what’s this?” Sam asks when he sees a big container of food he hadn’t seen before in the fridge. 

“Oh, it’s from Lance’s family. It’s _Arroz con Pollo.”_ Pidge says, turning her gaze from Bae-Bae to her dad. 

“Oh, that’s very kind of his family.” Colleen says. “Should we eat that instead? Maybe not cook dinner tonight?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Pidge smiles. Sam nods too before taking the container out and reheats it. 

As they eat together, sharing stories of their day, Colleen says, “This is really really good. Katie, can you please thank Lance and his family for us?”

Pidge smiles and nods before she takes out her phone from her pocket. 

> **Katie Holt 20:11**
> 
> Hey Lance
> 
> My family thanks you again for the food. It was delicious 

> **Me 20:12**
> 
> Hey Pidge!
> 
> You’re welcome! I’m glad you guys enjoyed it! ;)

At Lance's end, he smiles at the message before he decides to make a small change. 

**_Contact name changed to '_ ** **Pidge 🐥’**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed this small chapter! :D


End file.
